Part VIII

"Odango?" Seiya looked around and saw a figure sitting on a wooden chair near by. "Where are we?" He sat up and held his head with his hand. As his hand came to his face he noticed that they were no longer gloved. "What?!"

A slight giggle came from the figure in the chair. Seiya looked up at the person as he tried to prop himself up to stand. Another glance around the room showed that they were in almost a limitless space. He saw no walls but there was a slight fog in the air and he couldn't tell if it was just his vision fading or if the air had actually materialized. "I made you some cookies." The figure in the chair said as it laughed again. He couldn't make out the face of the person in the chair.

Seiya could now tell that the person was definitely a female. But why was he a male? Why wasn't he still Sailor Star Fighter? Seiya got to his feet with a strenuous effort. He stared at the figure in the chair but couldn't make out a face. "Who are you?" He asked as he slowly began to move towards her.

"I'd figured you'd forgotten about me." The girl sighed as she held up a bag of burnt crispy cookies for him to take. "But I didn't forget you." The girl suddenly stood up and Seiya saw the buns on top of her head but nothing more as she spoke again in a panic. "You'd better wake up.NOW!"

Seiya was confused to say the least but as he blinked his eyes he was no longer in the misty room with the girl but was now Fighter in a cold dark cavern. "Odango." She whispered to herself but her thoughts were once again cut off as she heard footsteps approaching her.

Fighter tried to conceal herself in the shadows of the room but to no avail. "Don't bother." Isai stepped out of the shadows. "I've been watching you for a while now. Did you enjoy your nap?" He laughed in a mocking tone. He knew just how to push her buttons.

Seeing no point in hiding anymore Fighter came out of the shadows to face him in full. "If you've been watching me, why did you let me live?" She asked as she gave him an icy stare.

"Oh. would you have rathered that I had killed you? Do you want to die?" Isai sat down on a rock near by. "You interest me. You talk in your sleep you know." He crossed his arms as he cocked an eyebrow. He watched Fighter get more tense as he teased her.

Fighter knew that she stood no chance of battling him on her own but she wasn't going to let that fear come to her face. She would not show him that she knew her end was near. She had to stall until she could strike back at him. Fighter was having a terribly hard time trying to control herself from lunging at him right then and there but she managed some how. "Really?" She said as though she was having a friendly conversation with one of her old friends.

"Yes. You've seen all of your friends and allies perish before your eyes but you continue to keep that arrogant heir about you." He studied her as she soaked up his words and the true horror of the situation.

'Maker didn't make it?' Fighter thought to herself as he appeared to be speaking to her as though she was the only one left. She looked around half- heartedly to see if she saw any signs of Maker, she was hoping to see nothing but instead her sight found her. Maker's body was lying crumpled up in the corner unmoving and she knew what her fate was.

Thoughts came flooding to Fighter as she remembered the times that she had spent with Maker, Healer and Kakyuu. She tried hard to fight back the oncoming tears. She was doing a commendable job too until she thought of her.

The remembrance of her dream came dashing back to her as though it had been real, and it felt real. 'Odango.' Fighter thought to herself as she blankly stared into space. The agony that she was feeling was expressed through her body by violent shakes.

Isai must have noticed this because he got up and into a defensive stance. Although he was planning on being on the defense it didn't stop him from uttering some more provoking words. He wanted to see just what this girl had left in her. "Are you going to cry now? I like to see little girls cry." He laughed as he looked over her uneven form convulsing with hatred.

Not giving Isai a chance to move Fighter reached for her yell and blasted her laser straight at him. Any desperate attempt that she could muster up would be to her benefit. She had nothing to lose anymore and everything to gain. She knew that taking her anger out on Isai wouldn't bring them back, but then again could anything?

Not expecting the laser's blast Isai was hit in the shoulder and thrown backwards into the wall behind him. He rose to his feet again and brushed the dust off of himself. "So you do have a little spunk left in you." Isai threw his cape back behind his shoulder and squared himself off to her. "Let's see how much more you can handle." With that said he brought his hands up to his chest, palm to palm and an energy ball began to grow between them.

Fighter saw this and tried to counter what she knew was coming. With her yell once again in hand she brought it up over her head as she screamed her powers. "STAR.SERIOUS." Her hands came down in front of her and prepared for the blast. "LASER!!" Her attack went soaring towards Isai just as he has released his energy. The two attacks collided and the entire cavern shook with the immense energy.

Bits and pieces of the ceiling and walls began to crumble around them but that didn't stop them from attacking again and again. The room lit up with the powerful blasts of energy and the illumination must have been what alerted the dead army. The room filled with the deathly looking soldiers as they droned in systematically. "She's mine!" Isai commanded as he sent yet another blast in Fighter's direction.

With nothing left all Fighter could do was try to dodge the attack, which she did successfully. The stalwart blast hit the wall behind her and knocked out the remaining support for the cavern. The ceiling and walls came crashing down on top of her as Fighter was buried under the landslide. The army looked on waiting for orders from Isai of what they should do further. "Leave her." He commanded as he turned to exit the room with his cape flowing around him in victory. The army took one last look at Fighter's limp arm hanging from the rubble and followed his orders.





The eerie mist filled the room again as Seiya opened his eyes. "Here again?" He mumbled as he felt the acute pain in his temples. "How did I get here?" He verbalized his thoughts to no one as he thought he was alone. Seiya sat up and looked around looking for the girl that had been there previously. Was he dead? And if he was dead why was he male?

Seiya made his way to his feet as he stammered around the open space in no particular direction. He looked down at himself and saw that he was dressed in his Juuban school uniform. He pulled at the threads to see if it was real or if it was just some jaded dream. The slight giggling behind him brought him back to his senses as he wheeled around to find the person from which it originated. "Odango?" He managed to get out as he stood face to face with Usagi.

"Of all ways to picture yourself and you pick your school uniform." She giggled again.

"No!" He screamed as he held his hands over his ears. "Why do I keep doing this to myself?. It hurts me to indulge in this fantasy time and time again!" She wasn't really here, why was he doing this to himself, and now of all times.

Usagi's face turned to that of pure pity. She had no idea why he was reacting this way but knew that it had something to do with her. But he was the one who had summoned her here in the first place. "I'm sorry." She said in a meek tone of voice.

Seiya slowly looked up. Normally when he caught himself day dreaming it would all just go away without her saying a word, but she was still there, and apologizing. "No, I'm sorry... I wasn't thinking. Why are you here?"

Usagi's smile returned to her face. "You wanted me here. I came for you." Her tone was sincere. Seiya had been mentally calling out to her soul in anguish throughout the entire battle.

"Am I dead?" He asked, he couldn't help but stare at her. If he was dead then this must be heaven if it was him and his Odango here. He reached out to see if she was real. His fingertips met with her flesh. He could feel the soft smooth skin of her arm as she smiled back at him.

"No, you're not dead." She smiled reassuringly. She put her hand to his face and her face grew sadder. Her usual up-beat spirit and bright shine faded a bit as she looked into his eyes. "Why did you loose hope?" She asked lightly as she wiped a tear from his cheek.

He was crying. Why? He was with her, the one thing he wanted most in the world. Perhaps he was just overjoyed at seeing her again. But why was she in that dress? "Everyone's gone. Their shines have died out. I was all alone. I couldn't do this on my own." He brought his hands up to his face. It was hard to admit that he couldn't handle everything, but this was Usagi. He knew she'd understand.

Usagi wrapped her arms around him and brought him into a tight embrace. "Remember what you taught me?" She brought herself back so that she could look him in the eyes as she kept her hands on his shoulder and her forehead against his. "They're never gone until you give up. and you won't do that. we all believe!" Those haunting words came back to Seiya like a ton of bricks. It was true that he had said them, but were they really the truth? "And don't think that their shines have gotten dull, just think about how they can become brighter."

"I can't do this alone!" Seiya's frustration was becoming apparent, and he was right, he couldn't do this alone.

Usagi could feel his rage building up inside of him. "Why didn't you call us sooner? We would have come to help you in a heart beat!" She pleaded for understanding which only he could give her.

"I was selfish. and I was scared." He admitted to her once he cleared his throat of the overwhelming lump that was lodged there. "I couldn't see you again." He looked down at the ground ashamed of what he had just said and what he was about to say. "I missed you so much when we left, I tried everyday to hide my feelings and find other things to occupy my time. Nothing worked. I longed for you and the way you made me feel." Seiya took a deep breath not looking up for if he did he knew that there was no way he could continue. "If I had seen you again, all of those emotions, fears, doubts and. love. would have just come rushing back to me and I knew that I would have lost it all." His tears flowed freely as he looked up to see her reaction.

Usagi didn't know what to think of what he had just confessed to her. She also knew that this wasn't the time to be discussing it. "I've missed you too. I didn't realize just how much I was attached to you until after you left. You know the saying, you never know what you have until it was gone? Well that would explain it for me." Usagi thought back on the friendship that the two had shared during his short stay on Earth. "So indulgent was I as I quarreled over trifle things, without ever doubting the days when we couldn't be together."

"But my foolishness led to your destruction." Tears began to fall again from his eyes.

"No, you didn't destroy me. Isai destroyed me, and that's why I'm here." Usagi contemplated a way to explain the situation to him. "Do you know why Isai came after me and the other senshi?" She asked, curious to see how much he really knew.

"The Earth senshi were the guardians of the Silver Millennium." Seiya stated bluntly.

"Yes, they are, but I am not." Usagi started as she realized that he had no idea who she really was. "I am Princess Serenity, daughter of Queen Serenity and heir to the royal throne of the Silver Millennium. I was the cause of the desolation of Isai in my former life."

Usagi's words shocked Seiya and chilled him to the bone. She played a bigger role in all of this then he could ever have imagined. She was their only hope and savior and he had ruined their chance to prevail. "You were the one who gave Kakyuu the power to create us?" Seiya looked at her in disbelief. He knew that Sailor Moon was powerful but this was beyond his wildest dreams. Usagi nodded her head silently.

The silence was overwhelming. It was an ironic twist of fate that he had fallen so deeply in love with the one woman responsible for the power of his being. Seiya looked up at Usagi with despair in his eyes. "How am I supposed to do this? I can't defeat Isai. an entire army couldn't take him down."

Usagi smiled at him. "I will help you."

"What? How?" Was she alive somewhere and ready to aid him in his attack?

The room was still except for Usagi moving closer to Seiya. They were only inches apart when she turned her face up to his. "I will become a part of you. if you will let me. I will lend you my power, and together we will defeat Isai and his army."

Seiya looked into her eyes and was filled with shock. 'Become a part of him?' He thought, what choice did he have? The fate of this planet and possibly that of Earth depended on him, and him alone. Seiya didn't speak a word but gave her a nod to show that he understood and approved.

Once again Usagi's smile returned to her lips as her form began to dissipate. Seiya watched on in awe as her figure took on a ghost like appearance. He had been talking with her soul and now it was going to enter in him. She was going see all that he had inside of him, he couldn't hide anything now even if he tried. As he felt Usagi enter his body he immediately felt her warmth and love. He closed his eyes to take it all in and bask in her glow.





It felt like there was a heavy weight on her chest as Fighter struggled to move. Her entire body was pinned and wedged between large boulders. Amazingly she had fallen into a crevice air pocket that the collapsed cavern had created. The only thing that was harmed was her arm. It had to be broken. She wiggled it free and felt the stinging pain as she did. She immediately felt nauseous and held her hand to her mouth. 'I have to get out of here.'

Some one began digging the pile of rock off of her as light entered her space. Who was helping her? When enough debry was removed so she could finally see her rescuer's identity she realized that it was one of the dark soldiers. The soldier began to pull her twisted body from the wreckage as Fighter tried not to scream in shear pain.